1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to tourmaline. A first and second aspect of the invention relate to a method of depositing removal of ionic material using tourmaline crystals for removing metals from a liquid such as water, while a third and fourth aspect of the invention relate to a tourmaline crystal with deposited metal for supplying metallic ions to a liquid such as water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The applicant for the present invention has filed an application on Oct. 3, 1989 (Japanese Patent Application No. 257130/1989) for a patent on an invention, the title of which is "Interfacial Purifying Apparatus Using Tourmaline, Method thereof, and Tourmaline Granular Material" This invention relates to a method, apparatus and application thereof, utilizing a discovery of the inventor that an interfacial active function can be provided for a liquid such as water by the reaction of electrodes, that is, between the permanent electrodes contained in tourmaline and liquid molecules of water, etc., to produce a purified liquid, such as water or the like.
Traditionally, where metallic ions have been contained in water, there have been requirements for removing the heavy metal ions which are harmful to life and the metallic ions, such as iron, manganese, etc., which produce adverse effects when the water is used. There have been proposed various kinds of methods and apparatus for this purpose. The fundamental technique, however, is that solid particulates of metallic oxide and other compounds are produced in a solution using oxygen, chlorine, ozone, etc., and that these particulates are separated for removal by means of sedimentation and filtration.
With respect to the methods and apparatus for removing the metallic ions themselves, there have been known a method and apparatus using zeolite and a method using ion exchange resin. These methods and apparatus, however, have a disadvantage that the reduced adsorptivity and the deteriorated ion exchange resin cause considerable problems. Therefore, an aeration process using oxygen in the air is a more widely employed method.
Even with the aeration method, there are many instances in practice that before the oxidation has been completed, the treatment proceeds to the next step where the separation is performed and that the solid particles produced by the oxidation are too fine be sufficiently separated.
There are many reasons why these problems have been caused, but the principal reason is that the speeds of the oxidizing reaction and the resulting aggregation are not fast, requiring a certain period of time for the oxidation to complete its reaction. This slow reaction has been the greatest barrier for the prior art to overcome. In respect to the first, second and third aspects of the invention, methods and apparatus described above constitute their prior art. The prior art regarding the fourth aspect of the invention will subsequently be described.
As one of the typical examples of this prior art, there are a method and apparatus for dispersing an aqueous solution of copper sulfate to remove algae that has grown in a pond, lake, pool, cooling tower, etc. by its eradication. It is known that algae become almost eradicated by copper ion of extremely low concentration such as 5 ppb (1/1,000 of ppm). However, the dispersion of copper sulfate is not suited for uniformally producing such an extremely low concentration as this. It is difficult to dissolve copper ions widely in a large quantity of water only by dispersion. There is locally produced a high concentration of copper sulfate where sulfate ion becomes as concentrated as copper ion. This sulfate ion is harmful to life such as fish or people swimming in the pool. The supply of copper ions to water cannot be sustained, either. Of metallic salts, a water-soluble salt is employed (irrespective of whether it is easy to be dissolved of not), but only a metallic ion is needed for the eradication of algae and the object anion which is produced simultaneously should be a harmless one.